Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day and while we realize the big parade on Fifth Avenue isn't for everyone, there are plenty of family-friendly celebrations, like Park Slope's intimate parade and the Irish Arts Center's annual open house. This is also a great weekend for young theater lovers, with stage adaptations of popular kid-lit series Nate the Great and The Magic School Bus, and the zany, sideshow-like antics of Stunt Lab.

Of course the gorgeous weather means you may want to celebrate spring by visiting one of our city's amazing parks and playgrounds. But you can't play outside all day: Bring the party inside by hitting the American Natural History Museum's fun-packed Cherry Blossom Festival.

These are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. All of our best bets are below. You can find additional options in our Event Calendar.

If the weather this week hasn’t done enough to give you a case of spring fever, a visit to the Boston Flower and Garden Show - at the Seaport World Trade Center from Wednesday, March 14 through Sunday, March 18 - will certainly do the job. Over 25 garden displays by landscape professionals and area nurseries focus are designed around this year’s theme – First Impressions: Adding WOW Factor to Outdoor Spaces. There is also a full schedule of lectures and demonstrations by top garden writers, industry professionals and chefs, as well as a wide marketplace featuring plants and gardening products.

We had the opportunity to visit the show the first day, and while it is definitely designed for adults, there is plenty to keep the kids’ interest if they do come along.

This Saturday is St. Patrick's Day and there's lots of leprechaun fun to be had. Check out ways to celebrate in both Fairfield and Hartford Counties. Time to think about getting ready for summer swimming so we wrote about indoor swimming pools to take lessons and to practice in in Hartford and Fairfield Counties. It's definitely time to start planning summer camps for the kids and we have a great Summer Camp Guide for anyone considering it in CT. This week is chock full of fun and we've got the lowdown. Besides Irish fun there are many other fun events in your area.

Last weekend, my daughter and I went to see Karen K and the Jitterbugs on stage at the Regent Theatre. After the show, we waited as Karen’s adoring pint-sized fans came up one by one for a post-show hug, then we sat  down with her for a chat about music and community. After spending minutes with Karen Kalafatas (that’s what the K is short for), you can’t help but like her unique blend of city savvy and southern charm, even if you are determined to disrelish her for being talented, witty, pretty, and great with kids.

Karen K and the Jitterbugs cut their kindie music chops in Brooklyn, NY, where Karen and her family moved from last June, but she is no stranger to Beantown. She and her husband have roots in this area – he grew up here and they both have family nearby. They actually met here years ago, while both were working with City Year. That passion for building community has stayed with Karen and is evident in her shows, her music and her classes.

It's time to grab those hiking shoes or a good pair of sneakers and prepare to go a little wild this week, as we show you plenty of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors in and around Oyster Bay. You and your family can hike at Muttontown Preserve, where you'll likely see people on horseback as you visit the ruins of King Zog, the last Albanian monarch's castle. Shu Swamp (try saying that three times fast!) has a lovely toddler-friendly loop trail with a pond where you can feed the brown trout, sticklebacks and other fish. Plant lovers will enjoy the grounds at Planting Fields with two indoor greenhouses and outdoor specimen plantings. Birds of prey, snakes, and lizards, both captive and wild can be seen up close at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary. Enjoy!  

Coming up next week; we'll show you some exceptional places to sign the kids up for classes in Oyster Bay.

If you've got a kid in elementary school, happy parent-teacher conference week! Of course the students aren't the only ones being evaluated. In this edition of our biweekly links roundup, we highlight one teacher's reaction to his rating and a really cool op-ed that makes the case against testing by quoting a beloved E.B. White book.

We've also got the scoop on a cool new public art exhibition, a new baby movie matinee, the first day of school in September and what's blooming at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Last week, I took my kids to the Boston Children’s Museum for an afternoon. It had been a while, and the kids acted like they were visiting old friends: “Let’s go to the beauty parlor in Boston Black. There she is! Oh, it looks like she has lost a lot of hair since we last saw her.” “Let’s go climb in the Construction Zone! Remember that time we hid from you up in the top?” That was the sort of thing I heard for most of the afternoon, as we hit all our favorites. But we also made some new discoveries, and I think my kids now have some new old friends they would like to go back and see again. There are three new exhibits at the Boston Children’s Museum, and they are definitely worth a visit: Big and Little, OddAnimals, and Native Voices.

[UPDATED: February 18, 2013]  We realize the number of summer camps in NYC can feel overwhelming. There are literally hundreds of day camps to choose from in the five boroughs, and it seems like new ones pop up every year.

All of these notable NYC summer day camps debuted in summer 2012 with innovative and enriching programs, and they're back this summer, too. Kids can create awesome robots, make like Jeremy Lin on the basketball court, start on the great American novel, commune with nature, or grab a hammer and nails and start building. These camps sound so awesome we want to go!